Adjustable handle-bar



(No Model.)

J. R. GGULD. AntrsfrABLE HANDLE BAR.

N0. 576,-573. Patented Feb@ 9, 1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN R. GOULD, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.A

ADJUSTABLE HAN DLE-BAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,573, dated February 9, 1897'.

Application filed January 3,1896. Serial No. 574,258. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.'

Bc it known that I, JOHN R. GOULD, a citi- -zen. of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the county of Henrico andState of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Adjustable Handle-Bar, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in adjustable handle-bars for bicycles, and has for its object to provide a simple, strong, and efficient construction of coupling between the handle-bar and its stem, the said couplin g being adapted to be loosened and tightened by the rider while in the saddle, so that the handle-bar may be readily adjusted to any desired angle or pitch, suitable either for hillclimbing or speeding on smooth and level roads.

. The invention also has for its object to provide a coupling between the handle-bar and its stem of such construction as to admit of the handle-bar being detached from the machine.

The invention also contemplates forming the handle-bar in two substantially equal sections, which are constructed to telescope at their inner contiguous ends and adapted to be united and secured to the handle-bar stem by one and the same coupling device.

Vith the above objects in view the invention consists in certain novel features and details of construction and arrangement of parts as hereinafter fully described, illustratedin the drawings, and finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a handle-bar and stem, the same being connected by means of the improved coupling. Fig. 2 is a section through the same parts, taken longitudinally of the handle-bar. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken at right angles to Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective View showing the telescoping inner ends of the handle-bar sections. Fig. 5 is a similar view of the coupling-sleeve, in which the ends of the handle-bar sect-ions are received and seated.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, l designates the handle-bar of a bicycle, of any -or grips.

desired or preferred configuration or curvature, the extremities'thereof under normal conditions being deflected or curved rearwardly and provided with the usual handles For the purpose of carrying out the present invention the'said handle-bar, which is preferably made of steel tubing, is divided centrally or formed in two substantially equal sections, and these sections are formed with thickened portions 2 at their meeting ends for imparting additional strength to such ends at the point of coupling and to adapt one of the sections to receive a reduced tubular eX- tension 3 of the adjoining section, the said tubular extension having an external diameter which will adapt it to slide and iit snugly within the end of the other section, the said tubular extension being of sufficient lon gitudinal extent to firmly brace the two parts of the handle-bar with relation to each other.

Each of the handle-bar sections is provided adjacent to its inner end with a segmental bearing-flange 4, extending approximately one-half way around the same, and these flanges are provided about centrally with inwardlyprojecting offsets or extensions 5, which meet and abut at the point 6. One of the meetingsurfaces at the point 6 is provided with a radial groove 7, substantially semicylindrical in cross-section, the said groove being adapted to receive a corresponding projection'or tongue S of substantially semicircular cross-sectional shapeupon the meeting surface of the opposing offset 5, thus establishing an interlocking engagement between the ends of the handle-bar sections. This interlocking feature is usually provided by drilling radially between the meeting surfaces of the offsets 5, one-half of the bore being located in each of the meeting surfaces, a dowel pin or key being thereafter inserted into one of the semicircular half-bores and brazed or otherwise permanently secured therein. The segmental bearing-flanges 4 are made tapering from one end to the other or cam-shaped, their outer peripheral surfaces being eccentric to the aXis of the handle-bar, and in addition thereto the outer opposite surfaces of said bearing-flanges are undercut or dovetailed, as shown at 9.

10 designates the handle-bar stem, which is preferably made of tubing and has at its up- IDO per end a cap 11 of larger diameter than the body of the stem, the said cap being provided in its upper surface with a concavity 12, whereby the said cap is adapted to fit snugly against and partially embrace the lower surfaces of the segmental bearing-anges on the han dle-bar sections.

13 indicates the couplingesleeve, which is preferably formed from a drop-forging to iinpart the requisite strength thereto. This coupling has a central aperture, the same being internally threaded to receive a hollow binding-screw or threaded sleeve 14, which surrounds the handle-bar stem and is provided at its lower end with a knurled annular iiange 15, facilitating the turning of said screw or sleeve by hand. Vithin the central aperture of the coupling-piece 13 is formed an internal shoulder 1 (5, which receives the head or cap of the fork-stem, the said head or cap being adapted to be operated upon in the upward adj usment of the screw or sleeve 14: for raising said head or cap and binding the same against the handle-bar sections.

The upper portion of the coupling-piece 13 is in the form of a hollow half-cylinder struck on the arc of a circle, corresponding closely to that of the segmental bearing-flanges 4, above described. At opposite sides or ends this semicylindrical portion is formed with opposing segmental flanges 17, which are undercut as to their inner adjacent faces or made dovetailed to correspond to and coperate with the correspondingly-dovetailed outer surfaces of the segmental bearingiianges 4, whereby the handle-bar sections will be bound together when introduced into said coupling-piece, after which they may be held against rotation and escape by turning upward the binding-screw 14.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that a very simple and efficient coupling device is obtained by means of which the handle-bar and fork-stem may be securely and detachably united. By reason of the eccentric relation of the peripheral surfaces of the bearing-flanges on the handle-bar sections the farther the handle-bar is rotated in one direction the more firmly will the said iianges bind against the head or cap of the stem. By loosening the binding-screw the handle-bar may be loosened and turned farther, and by loosening the binding-screw suf'- iiciently the handle-bar may be turned far enough to effect a disengagementbetween the dovetailed flanges thereof and of the coupling-piece 13, after which the handle-bar may be entirely removed from the machine.

The purpose in making the handle-bar in two separable sections is to enable the same to be carried the more conveniently iu the hand or pocket when not using the machine.

XVhen the handle-bar is removed, it will be impossible for any one to mount the machine and ride off with it, thus tending to prevent the machine from being stolen by a person able to ride the same.

XV hen it is desired to again attach the handle-bar to the machine, the sections thereof are again associated, as previously described, and the flanges aof the handle-bar introduced between the flanges of the coupling-piece 13, after which the handle-bar is turned until the desired pitch or angle is given thereto. By now turning the binding-screw or threaded sleeve 14E upward the head or cap of the stem is forced into frictional engagement with the bearing-flanges of the handle-bar, after which it will be impossible to turn the said handle bar until the binding-screw is again loosened.

By the described construction it will be seen that the angle or pitch of the handlebar may be readily adjusted by the rider while in the saddle and without the necessity of dismounting; also that the handle-bar may be set in line with the wheels, thus providing a straightway bar.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new isl. A handle-bar for cycles provided with a segmental dovetailed flange, in combination with a handle-bar stein detachably connected thereto and having a coupling-piece formed to receive said dovetailed flange, and a hollow binding-screw surrounding said stem and engaging the coupling-piece for causing the latter to clamp the handle-bar and prevent its rotation, substantially as described.

2. An adjustable handle-bar for bicycles, consisting of two substantially'equal sections, one of which is formed with an extension adapted to enter the contiguous end of the adjoining section, said sections being provided at their meeting ends with abutting flanges, in combination with a handle-bar stem having a movable undercut socket to receive the ends of said sections and to engage said flanges, and a hollow binding-screw having a threaded connection with the socket and surrounding the handle-bar stem to engage a iixed projection thereon and adapted when tightened to hold said sections rigidly, substantially as described.

3. In an adjustable handle-bar for bicycles, the combination with the handle-bar stem, and a coupling-piece thereon having a dovetailed flange, of a handlebar proper, provided with a dovetailed bearing-flange partially surrounding the same and engaging the flange of the coupling-piece, and a hollow binding-screw surrounding the stem and cooperating with said bearing-fiange for holding the handle-bar against rotation, substantially as set forth.

4c. An adjustable handle-bar for bicycles, comprising a handle-bar proper made in two substantially equal sections having interlocking engagement at their contiguous ends and formed with opposing dovetailed flanges parlOO rounding the stem and entering the couplingpieoe, the said screw being adapted to bind the handle-bal` within the coupling-piece, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

` JNO. R. GOULD. Witnesses:

JOHN H. SIGGERS, E. H. MONROE. 

